1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmitting and receiving card used for transmitting or receiving information data, by using a portable phone, between a portable information terminal such as an e-mail (i.e., electronic mail) terminal and a (mail) server.
This application is based on Patent Application No. Hei 10-214645 filed in Japan, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
When e-mail is transmitted and received using a portable information terminal or the like in a conventional method, the user must continuously monitor the radio signal quality, which is a burden on the user. In order to solve this problem, the portable information terminal itself may monitor the radio signal quality so that the mail transmitting and receiving operations can be performed when the radio signal is better or stronger. Generally, when e-mail is transmitted and received using a portable information terminal or the like, a device integrally consisting of a portable phone and a portable information terminal, such as a cellular phone or a personal handyphone system (called a PHS, hereinbelow), is used, or a separate portable phone and portable information terminal are connected to each other using a cable or the like.
However, when a portable phone and a portable information terminal are connected to each other as described above so as to transmit and receive e-mail, the advantage of the portable phone, that it is easy to carry, is lost.
In order to solve the above problem, an objective of the present invention is to provide a transmitting and receiving card, selectively attached to a portable phone or an information terminal such as an e-mail server, by which operations for transmitting and receiving e-mail or the like to and from a (mail) server can be automatically performed without connecting the portable phone and the information terminal via a cable and without monitoring the radio signal quality by the user.
Therefore, the present invention provides a transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or an e-mail terminal, wherein:
when the card is attached to the portable phone,
the card monitors the radio signal quality and acts as an agent for the e-mail terminal so as to receive e-mail addressed to the current user, stored in a mail server, via the portable phone and to transmit e-mail, stored in the card in advance, to the mail server according to a request while the monitored radio signal quality is good, and
when the card is attached to the e-mail terminal,
the card functions as a mail server so as to transmit and receive e-mail to and from the e-mail terminal.
The above transmitting and receiving card may comprise:
a memory for storing e-mail data and setting information relating to the e-mail data;
mail receiving means for retrieving the setting information, necessary for receiving the e-mail, stored in the memory, and requesting the mail server to transmit the e-mail addressed to the user, and for storing e-mail transmitted from the mail server in the memory;
mail transmitting means for retrieving, if the memory stores e-mail to be transmitted, said e-mail and setting information necessary for transmitting the e-mail, stored in the memory, and transmitting the retrieved data to the mail server;
memory reading reception means for receiving a data retrieval request, from the portable phone or the e-mail terminal to the memory, and information on the target data;
memory writing reception means for receiving a data storing request, from the portable phone or the e-mail terminal to the memory, and data to be stored, and storing the data in the memory;
mail receiving reception means for transmitting e-mail stored in the memory to the e-mail terminal when receiving a request from the e-mail terminal for receiving the e-mail from the mail server; and
mail transmitting reception means for storing e-mail transmitted from the e-mail terminal in the memory when receiving a request from the e-mail terminal for transmitting the e-mail to the mail server.
The present invention also provides a transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or a Web browser terminal, wherein:
when the card is attached to the portable phone,
the card obtains a Web document having the uniform resource locator format, designated by the current user, from a hyper text transfer protocol server, and
when the card is attached to the Web browser terminal,
the card transmits the obtained Web document to the Web browser terminal so that the user can see the document.
The above transmitting and receiving card may comprise:
hyper text transfer protocol transmitting means for obtaining the Web document having the uniform resource locator format, designated by the user, when the card is attached to the portable phone; and
hyper text transfer protocol reception means for obtaining a hyper text transfer protocol request when the card is attached to the Web browser terminal, and transmitting data corresponding to the request to the Web browser terminal.
The present invention also provides a transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or a database search terminal, wherein:
when the card is attached to the portable phone,
the card transmits a search request input by the current user to a database server designated by the user, and obtains a search result returning from the database server, and
when the card is attached to the database search terminal,
the card acts as the database server so as to transmit a search result to the database search terminal, as a response to a search request transmitted from the database search terminal to the database server.
The above transmitting and receiving card may comprise:
database search means, operated when the card is attached to the portable phone, for transmitting a search request input by the current user to a database server designated by the user, and obtaining a search result returning from the database server; and
search result providing means, acting as the database server when the card is attached to the database search terminal, for transmitting a search result to the database search terminal, as a response to a search request transmitted from the database search terminal to the database server.
Accordingly, the transmitting and receiving card of the present invention is selectively attached to the portable phone and an information terminal such as an e-mail terminal, a Web browser terminal, or a database terminal. When the card is attached to the portable phone, the card selects a period during which the radio wave has a good condition and acts as the information terminal so as to (i) retrieve information such as e-mail addressed to the current user, a Web document, or search data, stored in a mail server, hyper text transfer protocol server, or database server, via the portable phone, and (ii) transmit information stored in advance in the card to such a server according to a request. When the card is attached to the information terminal, the card acts as a server so as to transmit and receive the above-explained information to and from the information terminal.
Therefore, the conventional arrangement in which the information terminal and the portable phone are connected via a cable is unnecessary, and automatic information transmission and reception to and from the server can be performed while the radio signal quality is good. In addition, the convenience of portability can also be obtained.